Chapter 14: This audience is so weird

“I hope you weren’t truly involved…….. Otherwise, I will never let you off.”

Yun Ruoxi slowly slipped off the long dress she was wearing.

She glanced at her still youthful figure in the mirror and lightly pressed her lips together.

Then, following protocol, she threw the bloodstained dress and shoes into the compartment’s trash bin.

She pressed the clean button.

Blue flames leapt inside the crystal stone-like trash can.

Amid the flickering plasma sparks, her clothes instantly turned to ashes, then compressed into black cubes no larger than her fingernails.

After washing herself, Yun Ruoxi picked up the trainee uniform issued by the war camp. Upon opening the package, she felt somewhat dissatisfied.

“The war camp’s trainee uniform… is really simple.”

One set of underwear, a white short-sleeved shirt, and a pair of black shorts—that’s all.

Not even a pair of shoes was issued.

The broadcast had clearly stated that from now on, they could only wear the trainee uniform inside the war camp, with no other clothing allowed.

So, does that mean they have to go barefoot every day?

Ridiculous!

Frowning, Yun Ruoxi changed into the uniform and walked out barefoot from the compartment.

Each person’s sleeping spot had long been assigned by number.

Lower numbers meant lower beds; higher numbers meant higher beds.

Her number was 9992, almost at the bottom among a thousand people, so naturally her bed was at the “mountaintop” position.

She had to climb a ladder nearly five stories high to reach it.

If you didn’t sleep soundly here, it was basically a death trap!

Fortunately, Yun Ruoxi always slept obediently, and she wouldn’t keep the rank 9992 for long.

For now, this large dormitory was only a temporary transition for her.

“Rest for a while until the notification arrives.”

After spending a few minutes climbing to her bed and lying down, Yun Ruoxi focused her consciousness on the anime playing.

The second episode hadn’t ended yet, and at this moment, it just showed Lin Zhen entering the bathroom to shower.

Compared to Yun Ruoxi’s expensive long dress, Lin Zhen’s clothes looked much simpler.

Yet they weren’t unattractive; rather, they had a distinctive style reflecting the design aesthetics unique to his home planet.

Thick denim pants patched in many places, decorated with gears, ratchets, and other mechanical parts—one glance told you Lin Zhen was a scavenger.

A bronze-colored steel pipe curled from his upper arm to his forearm, forming a gear armguard resembling a rail track.

Around his neck hung a disc with small holes.

This was a compressed gas mask.

It had briefly appeared in the first episode; otherwise, Yun Ruoxi wouldn’t have recognized it.

Lin Zhen took off his clothes, revealing lean muscle lines.

The screen immediately flashed with comments like “This is me” and “We’re exactly the same.”

Yun Ruoxi had been an otaku in her past life and knew these types well, so she found it rather amusing.

If you really were like that, then what are the odds?

She closed the comments and fast-forwarded to catch the scenes she’d missed while showering.

Probably the part when Lin Zhen entered the dorm.

Numbers 1000–2000 belonged to the war camp’s top 20% superior students.

Although the current numbering was still somewhat arbitrary and would be adjusted later, for now, they still enjoyed the benefits of being superior students—

They were assigned comfortable double rooms with private bathrooms.

Yun Ruoxi watched with some envy.

Lin Zhen’s roommate was a short, sullen-faced young man.

From the moment they entered the dorm, he buried his head under the blanket, trembling all over, muttering nonstop, “I’m dead for sure, I’m definitely dead.”

Disturbing.

Lin Zhen was annoyed by the noise and tried to speak to comfort him, but was completely ignored.

“Could this guy be…?” Yun Ruoxi stared intently at the short young man on screen and seemed to realize something.

If she was right, this guy had a significant background and would become a major rival to the main group later on.

But at this moment, he obviously hadn’t grown yet, and what surprised Yun Ruoxi even more was—he and Lin Zhen were assigned to the same dorm?

This was clearly the butterfly effect of her changing the storyline beginning to show.

If so… maybe she could start planning ahead and use this person to her advantage.

Thinking this, Yun Ruoxi’s mind began designing the plan. But the transparent anime screen in the top right corner suddenly froze.

She didn’t find this strange at all; she silently closed the anime screen and closed her eyes to rest.

The anime world she inhabited and the viewers’ alternate time space had a time flow difference, usually maintaining a delay of two to three seconds, and often—

It was likely due to some mechanism similar to the Observer Effect.

Only when the time flows on both sides matched and the plot progressed normally would the screen play in real time;

If the time flows diverged—

For example, if the anime showed a montage or directly skipped a period of time with ellipsis—

Then the screen in Yun Ruoxi’s eyes would slow down proportionally or pause completely.

Right now, it was obviously because the shower scene with Lin Zhen had ended and the anime was switching scenes, causing her screen to freeze temporarily.

She could only wait until the camera cut back for the playback to resume.

***

Time passed second by second.

At the half-hour mark, water and power to all bathrooms were cut off simultaneously.

Almost at the same time, the anime screen resumed playing.

Creak!

The bathroom door suddenly slid open to both sides!

Soldiers wielding rubber sticks filed in one after another, rushing into the bathroom and beating the trainees still washing themselves.

Young boys and girls, who should have been cared for at home, were beaten until they curled up on the floor, writhing in pain.

Among dorms housing trainees numbered in the last five thousand, this situation was especially severe.

It wasn’t because they were slow or disregarded the half-hour rule.

It was intentional, ordered by Instructor Bi Meng and other higher-ups.

All trainees ranked in the last five thousand were assigned to dorms with communal bathrooms.

The capacity was extremely limited.

If they behaved obediently, patiently waiting in line, they would inevitably miss the time limit.

Only by fighting and grabbing could they avoid punishment.

This was the lesson Instructor Bi Meng wanted those trainees to understand—no one who always retreats in the war camp can survive.

Don’t fight, and you die!

Yun Ruoxi knew the plot and had now escaped this ordeal.

Sitting on her bed, she could have coldly watched it all unfold.

But when the camera cut to her own dorm, focusing on the abused trainees’ miserable state,

She tentatively acted.

“Wh-what’s happening? What’s going on?”

Her eyes flurried with panic, face full of worry, right hand unconsciously clutching the bedsheet beneath her.

Sure enough.

The next second, the camera precisely focused on her face, then quickly pulled back, capturing her curled-up figure on the bed.

It was a flawless character performance… Yun Ruoxi was already eager to see the audience’s reaction.

But the comments completely exceeded her expectations:

“Wow, bare feet!”

“??? Why did the camera suddenly zoom in on her feet?”

“I’m here for the bare feet!! prprpr”

“Director, give this a chicken leg! So on point!”

“White and tender, I’m totally fangirling—J”

“Why is the mess back again!”

Yun Ruoxi’s expression tensed slightly, but luckily her master-level acting skills kept her from revealing any cracks.

She quickly adjusted her state and continued acting out the panic and worry for a few seconds as planned, but couldn’t help but grumble silently:

These viewers…….. why is their attention always on such weird things!